Students participate in flu pandemic simulation

Students from UA, NAU and ASU participating in a statewide pandemic flu exercise on Tuesday at UA’s Health Sciences Education building in downtown Phoenix watch a mock newscast describing the simulated flu outbreak in the drill. (Photo courtesy of Sun Czar Belous, UA College of Medicine – Phoenix)

Fake news reports discussed shortages of drugs and other resources, the disruption of supply chains, the global effects and the development of a vaccine.

All of this was part of a pandemic flu simulation for students of various Arizona colleges. At UA’s Health Sciences Education building in downtown Phoenix, video calls were broadcast from other participating locations such as Prescott, Tucson, Flagstaff, Bisbee, Yuma and Tuba City.

Dr. Michele Lundy, one of the UA faculty members behind the event, said the simulation consisted of three exercises.

First, students training to be doctors, nurses, physicians, social workers, pharmacists and law enforcement officers were divided into teams that advised hospital ethics committees on devising a policy for treating patients.

Second came a shortage of antiviral medication, where the same student teams decided who would and would not receive the medication.

The third dealt with the “duty to report” — with potential of infection so high, students answered what kept them invested despite the risk of the disease spreading to themselves and their family.

“There is no ‘right’ answer,” Lundy said.

The clinical associate professor of family and community medicine said there are only different answers based on different views.

“There might be no good answer, but as a team you must decide the best answer,” Lundy said.